Ex-media boss Jimmy Lai jailed for 20 years under national security law

Hong Kong’s High Court jailed former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying for 20 years on Monday for national security crimes, in what mainland Chinese authorities described as a “powerful declaration” that severe punishment awaited those who dared to challenge the law.

In the toughest punishment to date under the city’s national security law, Lai is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars after being found guilty earlier on two conspiracy counts of collusion with foreign forces and a third of conspiracy to print and distribute seditious articles.

Lai, 78, who used his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper and network of international contacts to push for sanctions against the local and central governments, will be 96 by the time of his earliest possible release in 2044.

Six former senior executives at Apple Daily received sentences of six years and nine months to 10 years, while two activists were jailed for up to seven years and three months.

The three High Court judges handling the case at West Kowloon Court also imposed fines totalling more than HK$9 million (US$1.15 million) on three companies responsible for the newspaper’s operations.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said Lai’s punishment for “heinous” and “evil” crimes was “supported by overwhelming evidence, and he for sure deserves his punishment after all the harm he has done”.